I was there also, and we were expected to accomplish goals. In each sortie, we had expected pieces of the mission to complete and ways to do it. I can remember clearing rooms in buildings using ways that would never be acceptable in the civilian world.
A perfect example is the extermination of Bin Laden. He was shot in the head, unarmed, holding one of his wives, in his house. The scenario is almost carbon copy. So why is one considered murder and the other justifiable? And if there’s nothing more than that, then how was the action of the cop, or the military team, determined sound?
I am not defending anyone, I wasn’t in Mesa. But using the info I can find, he was sent to investigate a gun being pointed out a window, in a hotel, he cornered the guy, and the guy reached into his waist after being told to keep his hands clear. That’s all we have besides the film. If that’s the case, then can you explain how a jury found him not guilty if it is so obvious? We don’t know everything.
rwood
“The scenario is almost carbon copy. So why is one considered murder and the other justifiable?”
Really? REALLY? Bin Laden versus a REPORT of someone with a rifle, who clearly does NOT have a rifle as he is crawling on his knees. Someone who killed thousands versus someone who hadn’t harmed ANYONE.
Carbon copy? In what world?!
“he cornered the guy, and the guy reached into his waist after being told to keep his hands clear”
A team of armed men with bulletproof vests had the guy in a hallway. The guy was crawling and his shorts were coming off as he tried to comply with conflicting commands. So they opened fire?
“If that’s the case, then can you explain how a jury found him not guilty if it is so obvious?”
Because cops are held to a different standard. Always. As government agents, they have limited immunity which often seems to hit 99% unlimited. The legal standard of proof for a cop is very different from a normal citizen.
In a SWAT raid in Tucson, the highly trained SWAT team fired so many rounds, so wildly, that bullets went through FIVE houses. They then refused to allow a medic to approach the body for over an hour IIRC. Unknown if he could have been saved. They could also have simply arrested him as he came off shift at the mines, although that wouldn’t have been as satisfying. They also had no evidence of wrong doing. The widow received millions and the cops had no punishment.
Why did the guy die? When people forced his front door without announcing themselves (well, they said police but there was no way the dead man could have heard them from the rear of the house), he responded by heading to the front door with a gun in his hands.
I’d have done the same thing. I’d have been killed too. When will cops be held accountable for grossly bad judgment? Judgment that would get any non-cop a prison term?